Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009 - 18:07

Chronology, blissful chronology. OK it's just a poor excuse for a diary entry, motivated partly by having a headache.

1230 - I am eating hot dogs with tomato sauce and onion relish. On one hand it feels a little early for lunch because I've only been awake an hour, but on the other hand, it's best to keep to routines w.r.t. eating lunch at noonish each day, isn't it?

1310 - Was reading earlier on about some of the controversies about pictures of dead people (e.g. Nikki Catsouras - I'm not going to link pictures here, Google them if you like) being released onto the net. On one hand I can understand the affected people's friends and family will feel distress, but you have to wonder about the fact these may be a usefulness w.r.t. use in public information and preventative action. I dunno. I'm just not all that keen on 'censorship' per se - in many circumstances it's true that if you don't want to see/hear something, you can just avoid it quite easily.

1325 - I'm the same with people complaining about stuff they see on TV. Not everything will be to everyones tastes, and some people will be offended or not like stuff - but you can't please everyone all the time. Charlie Brooker made some very good points in one of his programmes regarding how the recent frequency of TV viewer votes has given some of the public the ludicrous idea that they have a right to dictate everything that is put on TV. Leave it to the TV programme makers - freedom of expression, one man's meat is another man's poison, progression through aggression etc. (to some extents.. you have to have some limits, but these should be 'extreme' and universally accepted, not just a load of people complaining about BrassEye or Jerry Springer The Opera or Ross/Brand phonecalls).

1350 - Have just played a few quick games of chess, and won them all. It's the chess equivalent of being quite good at beating Bangladesh at Twenty20 but not being any good at test cricket.

1415 - Speaking of which, Australia are 200/2 having been 90/2 within four or five overs of the day starting. Where the fuck are all the demons that we all suspected were in the pitch? It's easy to say with hindsight, but I think an extra spinner (in place of Harmison) would have been a better choice.

1425 - What a way to die! I'm not sure whether I'd prefer to be killed by drowning in a beer flood or by asphixiating in molasses :-)

1435 - Whoo ha! Andrew Flintoff may have had a moderate final test with the bat and ball so far, but he's played a blinder in the field just now to run Ponting out from mid off for 66. Is this the start of a collapse?

1440 - Ding Dong Goolies! Another dramatic run-out within an over of the latter wicket, Clarke's shot hitting short leg, bouncing off to Strauss and the England captain effecting the spawniest run-out with Clarke caught out of his ground.

1450 - Cardiff have taken top spot in The Championship by virtue of a 3-0 win over Bristol Titties. With an hour played at Upton Park, it's 1-1 between West Ham and Spurs, Carlton Cole having scored a screamer and also set up the Tottenham equaliser with a loony backpass.

1515 - Omm yomm momm, I've got cookies and milk. Bite the wax tadpole, you half-fisted solipsist! I have kinda forgotten to do any of the writing up of and audit that I planned to do this weekend.

1530 - It's finished 2-1 to Spurs at Upton Park, Aaron Lennon getting the winner with eleven minutes to go. At the cricket, Australia are five down for 250.

1545 - I was perusing earlier on about the Pulp (Disco 2000) lyric "You were the first girl at school to get breasts..", and trying to recall how this applied to my own experiences as a child. On one hand, late primary school photos indicated that some of the girls had developed, but I just don't remember having much of an interest at that age. I suppose of that ilk was the summer at secondary school after which several of the girls in my class came back in September having 'blossomed', so to speak. There were no boob jobs having happened, I'm sure, but neverthless it was a spectacular first few days at school for a twelve or thirteen year-old :-)

1615 - The bloke who lives downstairs from me is playing his music fucking loud. On one hand it's annoying ('cause it's got a loud bass, but not a regular rhythm.. African drum-beat stuff) but at the same time, it's not like four p.m. on a weekend is an antisocial time of the day/week.

1630 - It's windy here, and has clouded over somewhat in the past hour. Despite getting up at noonish today, I'm feeling a little tired. England have dropped a couple of catches in the past hour, though admittedly they were both reasonably hard.

1635 - Everton are really having a shitty start to the season. They are 1-0 down at Burnley (having lost 6-1 on the opening day) and Saha has just missed a penalty with fifteen minutes to go. Sounds like karma though - the commentators said it was a dive which won the penalty. That's the second time that Burnley's opponants have failed with a spot kick in the past week.

1655 - The Aussies look like they'll battle hard and take the game into the last day, having reached 311/5 with Haddin playing soundly and Hussey reached a hundred. Burnley have managed to hold out against Everton and win 1-0, putting the dire Toffees bottom of the league.

1710 - Haddin has lofted one to mid-wicket and Andrew Strauss has taken the catch! The Aussie wicketkeeper has perished from his positivity, in trying to thump Swann out of the attack - but on a pitch with uneven nature, hitting hard without true bounce is risky. That's broken up a 90 run partnership, Mitchell Johnson coming in at 327/6.

1720 - Ooh, nice. I popped downstairs to make myself a pot noodle, and when I got back up to the 'puter, BBC Sport told me that Australia are now seven down with Johnson perishing for a duck. I think it'll be all over by the end of the day - Strauss will have justification to claim the extra half hour, I'd guess.

1725 - In the yard beside my house, I noticed a small piles of white/grey ashes this afternoon. Further investigation showed that someone had had a little bonfire with some documents. I had a cursory poke about in the ashes in order to see whether there was 'owt interesting - call me daft but I think I've been reading too much about conspiracy theories recently. Didn't look too exciting however - seemed to be a computer manual and a leaflet about gym apparatus.

1735 - Siddle's got a leading edge off Harmison, and Freddie's took a catch. Australia are eight down needing another two hundred to win (or to bat another three and a half sessions to draw!). I take back my comments at 1415 about Harmison maybe not deserving his place, and that England should've played another spinner...

1740 - ...because he's took two wickets in two balls, having Stuart Clark caught in the slips first ball. Can he get a hat-trick against Hilfenhaus? No. The Aussie number eleven survives. At Craven Cottage, Anelka puts Chelsea two-nil up.

1750 - Hussey has fallen, after a very very belligerant (sp?) 121, popping up a catch to Cook from Swann's bowling. England have regained The Ashes! Australia played well in this final innings, getting 348 (judging by the scores posted by England, this is a pretty par score on this pitch), but the capitulation from 73/0 to 131/8 in their first innings has lost it for the Australians.

1755 - Aside from that fab news, Chelsea have won 2-0 and moved into second, just behind Spurs on goal difference.

1800 - I'm off to watch TV, maybe more later.